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in a house in the trees

i have a new favorite breakfast. it's called hearty french toast [made with real french bread, brown sugar, and cinnamon] buried under a mountain of freshly sliced strawberries and dusted with powdered sugar. so delicious.

i've been crashing at the haynie's house the past week as it's the closest thing i have to a home. i love this house, built to welcome guests and shape good people into better people. i love the creaky wooden floors and the huge panels of glass built into every wall that let sunlight stream in. i love listening to cara play same song on the piano every day. i really do.

i love hanging out with cara.

an unsuccessful bike ride to the post office where i dropped the box at least ten times

cara practicing braiding my hair...in costco

i love sleeping on cara's floor [there's a bed available to me, but it's better to sleep in cara's room because sometimes it rains at midnight and we both spring out of bed excitedly to watch it fall. because we're both florida people and we desperately miss the torrential downpours]. being here means that i wake up for breakfast at seven and watch the flurry of backpacks and paper bag lunches as people run out the door.

it means that i'm actually productive during the day. i've done more yard work, more shed painting, more chicken feeding, and more vacuuming in the past week than i have in the past four months [disclaimer: i am not being forced or even asked to do this stuff. i'm doing it all on my own free will. in fact sometimes i get told to get some friends, do something fun, etc. and i politely decline]. it's quaint and lovely and peaceful. it means that i'm outdoors more, that i tire myself out, that i actually do productive things all day. showers are so much more cleansing when you have layers of dirt, paint, and grass stains to scrub off. beds are so much more comfortable when you're sore all over. sleep is so much more refreshing when you're actually exhausted. i've reverted back to the mentality that outdoors = fun and computers = boring. we've gone on bike rides and jumped on trampolines and sometimes i sit on the swing staring at the leaves of the trees. i have calluses and blisters. i have clarity of mind and i have less nightmares and i feel like i'm starting to have a handle on my life again.